Hydraulic leak on a Winnebago Journey

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richard dimarzio

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Jul 5, 2011
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I have a Hydraulic oil leak under my rear bedroom slide on my 2004 Winnebago Journey 36'. The oil is leaking into the cabnet under the slide. Any information I can get on how to get to the oil lines and Cylinder will be a big help.
 
Lift the bed, remove the wooden panel nearest the foot of the bed, you will see a small access to the actuator hose and the ram mount. Outside under the slide, you will see a hole in the slide ram. You can access the forward ram mount bolt there. Mine was leaking, took it to HWH and watched as the technician removed the ram, took it in to the shop and repacked it. 
 
I have had 3 leaks in 4 years. All have been hose fittings. There are HWH Master Service facilities around the country. I have been to one in Elkhart, In and another in El Cajon, Ca. Both had the expertise, tools and parts to repair and were reasonable in pricing. Look at their website and you might find one near you. I have an Adventurer and my fuel tank sits under the rear fittings so they had to drop the fuel tank a wee bit to get at the fittings. In all cases they replaced the entire hose. I know sometimes just the fittings can be replaced but I liked the idea of new hoses.
 
I have 2004 Itasca Meridian same as your Journey. Back slide started leaking last week. repairman is supposed to be out today. Same leak as yours. Hope all you have to do is loosen bolt on the out side and at the the foot of the bed. How much of a job is this.
 
  I'm lucky enough to have a son who is master certafide RV tech., but has never made this type of repair on a Journey. If you would, please let me know how you make out with your repair. Thanks, Richard
 
I've got the same leak under the bedroom closet slideout on the driver?s side of my '04 Journey 36G s/n 10P83E276281 - the leak is coming from inside the HWH slideout mechanism Model AP23283.  The mechanism is a hydraulic cylinder (ram) attached inside a stationary rectangular tube.  The cylinder's rod is bolted to a rectangular tube that slides (telescopes) in and out of the stationary tube to move the slideout in and out.  Fluid drips (pours) out of the end of the mechanism's stationary tube into the electrical compartment below the slideout.
Under the bed I found a hole in the floor to access the closed end of the stationary tube (Thanks Red T for that tip!). I can see the 2 hoses attached to fittings on the end of the tube.  These fittings connect to the cylinder inside the tube.  Now I'm trying to find out how to remove the cylinder from the stationary tube so I can find the leak (maybe the cylinder itself, maybe a fitting on the cylinder, or maybe the hose within the mechanism).
On HWH's website, I found drawings and instructions for removing/replacing the cylinder from the mechanism.  And yes, one of the steps is to remove the forward ram bolt thru a hole in the sliding tube outside under the slide.  BUT, according to HWH, the cylinder itself should be removed from the closed end of the stationary tube where the hydraulic fittings are (in my case, underneath the bed).
Problem is, there doesn't appear to be enough room under the bed to do this.  Even if all the wires leading into the 2 AC circuitbreaker boxes at the foot of the bed weren't  in the way, it appears that the about 15? clearance between the end of the stationary tube and the back of the battery/Furnace/HW heater compartment on the coach?s passenger side won?t be enough to remove the about 20? long cylinder.
Does anyone know how to remove the cylinder?  Can I remove it from the open end of the stationary tube by removing the sliding tube out from under the slideout?
 
Greetings to All,

I just joined the RV Forum and new to RVing and the information that the Members provide is invaluable to say the least.

I purchased a 2001 Itasca Horizon 36CD a few weeks back.  No buyers remorse, I am very satisfied with the 36CD but finding a list of need to repair items.  The most pressing is a new hydraulic fluid leak at the back corner of the bedroom slid.  I am parked on a slight upward slope and notice the fluid is leaking from from under mid-side, running below slide on ledge and and pooling at the base of the slide ledge and dripping to the ground from there.  I just left the Dungeness Recreation Area Campsite, WA  last night and all was ok until I noticed the problem this morning.

I know how to hold a wrench and willing to try to self fix.  Any suggestions or recommendations?

Thanks in advance,
SilverSurfer81   
 
Hi, another Richard here, as John noted, I recently posted a lengthy description of my replacement of the exact hydraulic ram you are having problems with. If you are a patient wrencher, you can do it, if you allow frustration to make you throw things, or are old like me, and bending over on your knees for a couple of hours at a time is a near impossibility in itself, whip out the wallet, and look for an authorized HWH repair facility near you. I live in western Washington, and my options were either San Diego or Texas for closeness. You can take it to HWH in Iowa, they will affect a repair, and I've heard they are quick and reasonable.

A question I want to ask, is there a reason the seals are bad, besides wear? By the way, if it is leaking into your electrical cabinet outside, it is the seal. I had two symptoms, no apparent leakage when extending the slide, evidenced by the tub I put in the cabinet to catch hydraulic fluid, lots of leaking when retracting..as the severity if the leakage increased, the slide would go all the way in as it should, but creep back out an inch or so while heading down the highway.

I attribute the seal failure to excessive heat from a nearly catastrophic exhaust leak at the 90 degree turn after the turbo, right onto the area that houses that slide out ram.  Any unusual heat or smell in the bedroom after driving all day?
 
There is a Winnebago Company service/repair shop in Junction City, Or...I had mine rebuilt by Premier RV located in the same city.
 
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